Harry Potter and end of Manipulations
by phoenixluv
Summary: Petunia realizes one thing. She and Dudley are Harry's only living blood relatives and they say blood is thicker than water.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Wish that Harry Potter was rotten by me. Wink!! wink!! Alas ! Harry potter is JKR's. If wishes were horses, I would be a manipulative war goddess of ancient Greece.**

Harry Potter and end of Manipulations

Chapter 1

Harry potter was lying down on the bed staring at the ceiling. The image of Sirius falling through the veil was plastered in his mind playing a loop his mind was continuously replaying. The last week since he had come home he had lain down on his bed and refused to move. He simply stared at the peeling plaster on his roof as if it was the most interesting piece of art in the world. He would move once in three days write down his well being note to order and lay down on the bed again.

Petunia on the other hand had grown increasingly worried with each passing day. This was the seventh day the boy had refused to touch his food she left in his room. He was catatonic plainly operating on the instruction given to him by those adult freaks. They had somehow broken him like they had captured her sister. He was simply going down in the same spiral which led to her death.

She was sure now that that they were chosen as the boy's guardians, simply by the virtue of being most magic hating people so that when the time came they would be glad to be rid of the orphan boy and the boy would be glad to be accepted into magical society. Every year the danger associated with the boy increased which both baffled and infuriated her. First a flying car driving freaks then, mass murdering godfather followed by soul sucking demons. The boy had screamed continuously last year in his sleep of which Dudley had informed her after the dementor incident. The incident had clearly shaken her and left her wondering if this was the kind of world was where another member of her family was going to lose his life. As soon as the thought arose in her mind she shivered. No, her mind screamed. If she can handle the raging hippo of her husband a runty Harry Potter is not going to die on her watch. He is not going to die without getting married, getting a job, a house, and kids who she is going to torment to her heart's content period.

She rose up from the kitchen table as she heard Vernon's car in the driveway. Vernon entered minutes later calling for her. She handed him his coffee and sat down on the sofa beside him. She gathered her resolve, opened her mouth when she was interrupted by Vernon.

"Has the boy eaten anything".

Petunia stared at her husband incredulously. What in the devil had gotten into her husband?

"No".

Vernon released a sigh and turned to face her. "I got a large order of drills today from a client Petunia. To celebrate, I took him out for drinks with his friend who is a psychologist. We were talking about the kids when I mentioned the boy and his behavior. He told me that the boy is most likely in depression and could turn suicidal if ignored. I don't like the boy umm but I don't want to see him die. So……………. I kinda umm invited the fellow here to see him tomorrow.

Petunia looked at him with wide eyes. When the two of them had met he was a bumbling, yet endearing date. The Vernon she saw now reminded her of those days, when trying to please her he would do crazy things his friends had suggested in wooing her.

"Oh! Vernon", she hugged him and smiled reassuringly, "you did the right thing. That boy needs an intervention; the sooner the better. When is our guest coming?"

"9 o'clock, just after breakfast."

"Sure I will try to feed the boy tonight."

That night after supper, Petunia took some hot soup and bread and went to the boy's bedroom. He was lying in the same position she had seen him earlier and an important looking owl was flitting about. She looked at Harry and hesitantly extended her arm. The owl hopped on her arm and offered her the letter tied to his legs. She took the letter and poured some soup in the boy's owl dish. His own bird was probably out hunting. The owl nodded to her as if thanking her and began drinking.

She opened the thick parchment and started to read.

Dear Mr. Potter

The enchantments placed upon you designated godfather Mr. Sirius Black's will activated one month ago. As the principle beneficiary of this will you are required to attend the reading of the will. However, all attempts to reach you via regular owl post have failed. Therefore Firedoom my personal owl had been pressed into service. He will wait for a response as long as it takes. Failure to show up will cause you to wait till you come off age in order to secure a reading again. Please tap your wand to the end of the parchment to convey the consent of your attendance.

The reading had been scheduled for the 12 o'clock, Saturday 20 July 2006. A portkey is attached to this letter.

May your vaults be flushed with gold

Bank manager Ragnok

London branch, Gringotts

Petunia looked around and spied the boy's wand lying on the dresser. She tapped the wand onto letter. A coin fell onto her palm. This must be the porty- thingy. The owl fluttered down and extended his leg and she tied the letter back up. She placed the wand and the coin back on the dresser and observed the boy.

He was always small for her age. They have never actually starved him but she knew that she could have taken better care of the boy. The reason was that she was never sure of whether she was being watched or not by the freaks. Last year Dudley had confirmed that their cat-crazy lady neighbor was one of them and her worry increased. So they had been carefully watched over for almost all the years they had the boy. However, this only hardened her resolve. They were his legal guardians in this world and there was no way she was neglecting the dire state the boy was in. Even Dudley hadn't bothered the boy in the whole week, casting thoughtful glances at his door. So, his godfather was dead and judging by the state the boy was in, his death was not a peaceful one. For someone hunted by a mass murderer a similar godfather must be a particularly good protection. The boy had 'Harry' she reminded herself, had taken the loss hard.

She opened a water bottle and poured the contents down Harry's throat. He sputtered gasping for air and gulped down a lot of it and quickly sat up staring at her wildly. Had the situation not been so dire, she would have laughed at the half drowned cat appearance he exhibited. She placed the bowl in his hands and said, "eat". He gave her an incredulous stare then the same look to the bowl as if trying to remember what to do. She finally took pity on him and fed him with her spooning soup in his mouth and him gulping it down dutifully. The boy looked ravenous and quickly finished the soup; the wild look in his eyes never faded.

Dudley, then came in carrying another bowl. At the sight of his mother he stopped and the mother and son stared at each other. Then he took the empty bowl from his mother's hands and placed a nearly full one. She started feeding Harry again and Dudley quietly settled in the wobbly chair beside her. When the bowl was half finished Harry started to shake his head. Dudley then took the bowl and tipped the contents of the bowl in the food-dish of Hedwig. Harry lain down on his bed and closed his eyes. Dudley pressed his massive palms on the side of Harry's head where the scar was and started to rub soothing circles. Within minutes the boy was asleep. As she watched her son interact with such familiarity with her nephew, she realized this was a routine her son did everyday; perhaps ever since the boy had come back.

Dudley gave her a sidelong glance and collected the dishes. Petunia followed her son to the kitchen where for the first time in her life she watched her son working in the kitchen. He made tea and placed one steaming cup in front of her. She took a tentative sip. The tea was quite decent.

"He doesn't even scream anymore." He said in a quiet voice.

Petunia looked at her son. He was going to be seventeen this year. With a jolt she realized that next year he will become an adult. She had looked at her son with pride many times but now was the time to acknowledge that he had matured. She nodded.

"His condition had worsened every year. Those freaks don't even care as long as he goes to their school."

Dudley looked at her with a serious expression on his face which would have looked comical in any other situation." He told me last night about one other school in France and one in Russia." A throat being cleared behind them warned them about Vernon standing there. He poured himself tea and took another chair at the table.

"There are other schools ?" Vernon asked. Dudley nodded.

"France is too close for comfort and Russia poses language problem. Any schools in America?"

"No idea," Dudley paused," but they send letters by owls don't they". An idea had formed in his head quickly.

The next morning the whole family was up before 7. Dudley had coaxed harry into a bath and by 8 the breakfast was finished. Everybody sat in the drawing room. Harry was leaning heavily on the side of his low chair while Dudley was running soothing circles through his hair. The motion had mostly calmed down a panicking Harry who for a while had a haunted look in his eyes again. Petunia had braved the attic this morning looking through her sister old trunk and found a book of interest 'Sixteen : the start of a pureblood's life'. As Harry was going to be sixteen soon she thought the book might help. Through the morning she had read a few chapters and was both horrified and amused at the contents. The book was quite explicit for a teenager. However the real gem was the chapter on heritage. She called Vernon and Dudley as she read from the book.

_The creature heritage had been a long standing tradition in magical society. It is a well known fact that a witch or wizard with creature heritage receives magical boost and some magical attributes of the creature. The maturity begins shortly before their sixteenth birthday and culminates on the birthday… during this time the individual may exhibit extreme to partial distress……. The gifts developed by the purebloods can range from enhanced senses to near complete transformation into the magical creature………….._

As she opened the next page an old envelope fell out. Dudley picked it up smoothed it open and started to read the first parchment. His eyes went wide as he read the contents and reached for the contents of the next sheaf. His mother looked at him curiously. Dudley finished the letter took a deep breath and passed the parchments to her. Petunia took them and as she read she started to tremble slightly. She took a deep breath and gave the documents to Vernon.

They stared at each other with wild shock running through all of them as they realized the full extent to which their lives had been manipulated by magical bigots of Britain.

Lily had been working as an assistant in a law office during the war efforts against Voldemort. Some fifty years ago a law was passed by magical Britain which gave the ministry power to bind the accidental magic shown by borderline squibs. These children and many squibs were then banished into the muggle world and they were almost always lost.

Lily's careful research however found astonishing results. With each passing generation the probability of magical offspring increased in the squib's families. More often than not their children were labeled muggleborns and their parents deemed muggles whereas they really were squibs. The instance of two banished squibs finding each other and marrying had a high probability somehow thought to be influenced by their compatible natural magic. Lily had tried to prove her research but the data were hard to come by in the war torn Britain. She accidently compared Petunia and Vernon's family records with the magical tapestries of lost families. Both Petunia and Vernon's ancestors were located though with a different last names. Her final research was proved by studies of Lily's blood and a lock of Dudley's hair she had as a souvenir. Shrunk copies of the tapestries were the conclusive proof that cinched it for them. Lily had written her final conclusion at the end that finally, she had found the reason her sister had married Vernon Dursley.

Petunia's lips had twitched upon reading her sisters parting words. The date on the letters told her that they were probably the last words Lily had ever written. She most likely was waiting for her owl to come back from hunting and left the letter pressed in the book. She never got the chance to post the letter as she died the next morning. So they were all squibs, the rejects of the magical world with bound magic. Lily was probably the only one powerful enough to tear through the enchantments placed upon their ancestors.

'That meant that Harry was a pureblood wizard going through his magical majority. Oh! God. She had no one to help them. Emotional trauma probably added to the stress. The poor kid was in a lot of pain.' She had gained a lot of insight in the magical world in the last hour than in her whole lifetime. The nerve of that manipulative old many-named bastard coot to have abandoned her nephew at a time like this.

"Dudley get Harry some aspirin quickly. "

Dudley goggled at her," I gave him two after breakfast as I have every six hours since he came back. Think I should up the night dose though."

Petunia had by now crossed her potential to be shocked by the behavior of males in the family. Instead she struggled to press her lips together to trying not to laugh.

"Why don't we ask the doctor to prescribe some general painkillers? He will be here in a few minutes."

The reminder jolted Vernon out of his post wizard ancestor induced stupor. He collected the letters carefully and placed them in the drawer. Then he pried the book out of Petunia's hands and started reading. As he finished a car honked in the driveway. He returned the book to her and went to receive the visitor. She hid the book in the drawer and locked it. Now was not the time to expose Harry to anyone even a doctor. Suddenly she got a very bad feeling. She streaked towards the door which Vernon was about to open and screamed, "No."

Vernon paused his hand on the door and rushed to her. "What's the matter, Pet?"

"Think how many psychologists accompany a friend to place a drills order, talk about kids and spare time for an unknown kid on a weekend….none Vernon. The magic on the property is warning us. Don't open the door and never invite a stranger in this home again. We have powerful magic protecting us. We have to be careful." For the first time in her life she had appreciated a blocked eyehole.

They quickly turned off all the lights in the house and retreated to the master bedroom. Dudley was already there with Harry sleeping on the bed. His tense set of shoulders were poised for a fight.

"After the last years attack his godfather came to see me."she ventured.

"Wait, the killer," Petunia nodded," go on"

"He told me that if we invite someone who is on the bad side the magic will warn us but since the invitation had been given the wards would be prone to failure and in case that happens....."

Petunia pressed a button on the switchboard and before their very eyes the things in the house began to fold upon themselves. All their belongings shrunk and zoomed into a small carrier bag. The whole thing lasted seconds and the house was now bare. Vernon grabbed the case, while Dudley held Harry in his arms. Petunia took out the key which she had hoped never to use in her life.

Crash! The house suddenly shook. She grabbed Vernon and Dudley and whispered,' don't let go. Atrum!'

They disappeared in a swirl of colors.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I am a fan of Harry Potter not owner. I am extremely jealous of the one who is namely JKR. I have horns to prove it.**

Well let me clarify a few things for ya all folks. Vernon had only started to worry after he had met the psychologist and was a bit manipulated to feel concern for Harry, so that whoever wanted to gain entry into their home was invited for a visit. Petunia on the other hand is afraid of caring for Harry, as she is fearful of being watched covertly. She may be many things but stupid is not the way she had been portrayed even in the cannon. Dudley on the other hand genuinely cared for Harry after being saved from dementors. **Trust me you will care for someone too if that someone had saved your soul from being sucked by a dementor (it's an icky way to die).**

The idea of this came to me after reading the start and end of the deathly hallows and a multitude of abused Harry fics. The Dursley's for all their faults loved their son. Petunia cared about Lily enough to want to go to Hogwarts despite being afraid of magic and she was jealous of Snape for the same reason. It was also Snape's action (stealing her letters) which was the straw that broke the camel's back and Lily became the freak in her eyes.

* * *

Chapter 2

They arrived in a swirl of colors. The key deposited them in the sitting room of a small but neat house. Well if you knew Sirius's idea of small and neat, it probably was big, black disorderly but expensive. Sirius was loaded and never got out to spend any of his money. So, the Dursley's found themselves staring wide eyed at the obviously magical house. It looked quite comfortable. Dudley was the first to recover. He placed Harry on the sofa and sat down by his side. Vernon and Petunia took the other seats.

Crack! An ugly doll like creature popped in the room and all of them stiffened. The strange creature look one look at harry and squealed excitedly, "Harry Potter sir is come. Dobby was so worried."

"Er, "Dudley interrupted the small bouncing elf, "he is sleeping. Please don't wake him."

Dobby nodded excitedly, "master Harry is growing. He need food and rest. Dobby makes sure. Do he other master and mistress need anything."

"Er, coffee would be nice."

Dobby nodded and snapped his fingers, the flames in the fireplace rose quickly and the room filled with warmth. He disappeared with another crack.

Vernon cleared his throat," What was that".

Petunia ventured softly, "caretaker maybe." It sounded plausible. Vernon nodded.

With another crack Dobby appeared again carrying a tray with steaming cups of coffee and snacks piled on top. They drank coffee and took stock of their situation. They were in an unknown place, but it looked a well cared for house only magical and possibly safe from other freaks.

When Sirius had come to her house he had told her about the safehouse he had, just in case something like this happened. He had never disabused Petunia of the notion that he was a wanted murderer, innocent or not. In fact he was tickled when his "wanted and on the run reputation" had convinced Petunia that he could take care of Harry and keep him safe from Voldemort. He had given her portkey to one of the safe houses James had set up for him in the previous war. Not even Dumbledore had known about it and Sirius kept it that way. It had taken Peter's betrayal to teach him that no one was infallible. So in the end they were in a safe house James had personally secured for Sirius and represented everything they were known for; it was comfortable, spacious, expensive and a bit dark.

"His godfather was rich," Vernon observed.

"This is master Potter's house", the doll like creature said helpfully.

"Huh!"

"This was master James Potter's house. He gave it to master Sirius to hide in the first war. When master Harry Potter is 16, it will be master Harry's house. Master Harry's father and godfather's families were both noble and rich."

"Oh!"

"What are you," Dudley blurted out.

"I is Dobby, the house elf. Master Harry is my friend. He saved Dobby from bad masters." Dobby quivered for a moment and went on," master Sirius told Dobby to clean this place for master Harry's 16 birthdays present. It's in four days."

"Thank you Dobby", Petunia said.

Dobby nodded collected the dishes and left.

"So he is rich and loaded. Then why was he dumped on us? Why we were never told?," Vernon asked angrily.

"Because, it is wizard money, Vernon. He was a minor and we are the closest relatives he had. We can't use his money anyways. No-one knows about this house not even Harry. His godfather told me. We cannot even get in without Harry. Magic is strange in that way."

Vernon deflated. He was shocked at himself for feeling jealous that the brat was rich even if he was rich only in this strange world. But then his ancestors belonged in this world too. He was a third generation banished squib, one more than Petunia. He felt strange. Could it be that his magic was there but not enough to be powerful? He did not know but he intended to find out.

* * *

Dudley was busy combing through the book Petunia had handed to him. It seemed that the majority of the painful part was over for his cousin. He would be sleeping through for days though. Despite what he thought his cousin was slowly changing. His hair was longer, silkier and better than the bird nest he usually sported. His features had sharpened and skin had begun to take on a healthy hue. His eyes have remained the same mostly but sometimes he noticed a golden ring around irises. The ring had tipped him to read one of the later chapters of the book. He found out that his cousin was most likely a dark Velfen; Dark due to color of his hair.

…………………………_Sometimes wizards who have had both Veela and Elf blood in their ancestors have a strange inheritance called Velfen. These wizards had acute senses and favor of extreme luck. The said individuals have been rumored to tip the very hand of fate in their favor. They would be famous, beautiful, extremely intelligent and lucky………………………….. Many individuals over the ages have been rumored to be Velfen, famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel included. However no one knows for sure. They can only be conclusively verified during their magical majority when they show a golden ring around the irises............the ring is known as the "ring of fate" ………………….…It had been rumored that this ring draws power from the eye of the fate sisters and manipulate the threads in the "Tapestry of Life and Death" that they weave. ………………_

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was worried. There had been an attack on the Dursley's and the whole family had disappeared with Harry. He himself had erected new owl wards at Harry's house so that not even ministry owls could get to him. He was furious that despite being guards at the residence the bounty hunters hired by Tom Riddle had been able to bypass the wards he had placed at the house. How on earth did they even find the house was beyond him; unless they had been able to invite their way in there was no way they could bypass the wards. Where was the family anyways? The whole house had collapsed and burned to cinders in mere minutes. Only one of the hunters had survived and he was lying in a magical coma in St. Mungos. Albus Dumbledore was ready to spit fire.

What Albus Dumbledore didn't know was that leaving sycophants like Dolores Umbridge in the ministry would be his mistake he had hoped not to make. Umbridge had tipped off a few of death eaters sympathizers upon her return to the ministry about Harry Potter's address and the knowledge of wards kept in Fudge's office and from there the events snowballed. End result, Harry Potter had vanished from Britain. The panicking ministry had obliviated all the ministry members who had the knowledge of records kept on all important people including her and now she was hopping mad. Albus Dumbledore was ready chew iron bolts.

* * *

Ron was worried. Harry had not written any letter to him. Though he heeded Dumbledore's advice that he allow his friend to mourn in peace he wished he could go and see him. Harry was going to be sixteen this year. Harry was a powerful wizard even if only half-blood and the creature heritage if any was a painful process. Having gone through it had redefined had pain for him. It was said that the more pain there was the more powerful the wizard. He was already in the hospital due to a Quiditch accident so he hadn't realized it until it had finished. There were no major changes anyway to write home about. But then it was necessary that somebody must warn Harry.

He had written to Harry several times, but Pig kept coming back with the letters unopened. Coupled with Dumbledore's insistence that he leave Harry alone Ron had began to suspect that maybe the old man was deliberately separating Harry from his friends to increase his sorrow to influence his magical inheritance. It was not unheard of, but it was one of those only done behind closed door, practices in the cold and strict pureblood society where power dominated the hierarchy. His suspicions had made him reluctant to trust anyone in the Order. He didn't know who could help Harry.

His birthday was in four days. There was no talk of getting him from his relatives. Nobody seemed to talk about anything but him yet they didn't care when they should spring him out of his hell hole of the house. Ron was getting increasing worried every day.

His sister then flounced in, "dinner Ron." He sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is JKR's. I think by now everybody knows.**

**If I get a beta you will have to wait longer. Choose! Choose! and then I will need a beta. Oooooohh! Will you be my beta! Lots of smiley faces! enjoy!**

**Hermione makes an entry but not in first person. Gabrielle will soon come. I wouldn't tell ya how? Now that would ruin a surprise. Someone intelligent can figure it out after this chapter.**

Chapter 3

Petunia spent her first day looking around the house. Everything here seemed so alive. The pictures moved, the fire became merrier whenever she walked in to a new room, the paintings and the mirrors talked. She was amazed when she found several real fairies hiding in the wild rose bush in the backyard. They were curious little creatures but beautiful nonetheless. Later she discovered the library and to her amazement the fairies had followed her there. She sat by the fire in the library reading watching occasionally watching them, preening or trying to hide in the folds of her dress or hair. It was a curious sensation as if something pleasantly warm settled on her body at various points.

Vernon and Dudley had discovered the kitchen for lunch and needless to say sampled quite a large amount of things they had never heard about. To Vernon's horror, Dudley's personal favorite turned out to be blood flavored pudding which he was forced to try too and admitted it was quite a distinctive flavor. A grinning Dobby later informed him it wasn't really flavored by blood just tasted like that, which had caused him his face to change an amazing shade of yellow. Dobby had popped out immediately and Dudley had run for his mother. She took a great delight in sampling the dessert and had a decent critique on the taste.

She witnessed a funny incident in the evening when she caught Vernon trying to talk to some painting in the hall as he was trying to find a way to library. The painting they later found out was of a younger James and Sirius playing in the snow. As James spoke with Vernon about his son, Sirius amused her by miming funniest expressions on his face and pretending Vernon was talking to him, occasionally scooping up ice and stuffing it down James's robes. Well in the end it was a fun conversation to have. Vernon was purple in the face with the effort of trying to speak rationally with the teenage menace incarnation of his nephew and not to laugh at Sirius's antics. Petunia was merely pink, with her lips pressed tightly together.

They had gathered that Harry was likely to wake up soon. It was unusual to have a maturity period longer than 2-3 days and Harry's had lasted at least a week perhaps longer. All the signs pointed towards their nephew being a very powerful individual. What they didn't know that for a 'Velfen' it was quite normal.

The fairies had followed them throughout the house to their own amusement. Dudley had tried to poke one and was smacked thoroughly by their tiny fists. He received an eye decorated with fairy dust for his efforts and soundly slept from lunch till dinner. Dobby had tsked and chased the fairies out in the backyard for making his guests sleepy. Petunia had smirked and didn't bother telling Dobby about the ones hiding in her room. She like the little creatures probably reminded that not everything in the wizarding world was a horror.

At the end of the day they had realized a) They weren't bored. b) Wizards were amusing for the lack of common sense as they discovered articles upon articles written about the love life of their one nephew, speculations about his ideal date, wife, kids, dressing style not even in that order; Dobby had helpfully provided recent copies of Daily Prophet. c) The horror that was Voldemort. d) Wizard were idiots for hoping that a teenager would fight and win a war against a raving lunatic when all they did was figure out how to change the color of their walls and gossip about the boy who lived. e) Harry Potter was more famous than their Queen. f) They discovered Quibbler, which advocated levels of advanced lunacy they found hilarious.

Well after a day well spent in the craziness that was a constant in a wizard's life (note: humorous only to muggles; indifference of wizards because they simply didn't know better), they sat down to dinner courtesy of Dobby. Petunia had insisted that Dobby eat with them and Dobby had broken out in loud wails of gratitude. He was promptly comforted by newly awakened Harry who listened to all the tidings of his relative's day with an amused glint in the eye. Thankfully, he kept his lips pressed tightly together. As soon as they dinner finished he bounded up to his room with Dudley. The two cousins looked at each other curiously and sank down on the bed clutching their sides, helplessly trying to control their laughter. It had bought on another bout of pain for Harry and Dudley had promptly bundled him up in the bed for the night.

Now laying in the soft bed Harry watched Dudley as the latter told him about his research on Harry's inheritance and their family's blood status.

"So", he began, "I am a pureblood." Dudley nodded. Harry left out a sigh. If his mother had done this research it was likely that Dumbledore knew about it. If such an archaic law had survived for so long then there must be other families suffering from it too. Harry had clenched his jaw. On one hand it was kinder to those squibs whose magic was very weak and untamable to bind their magic. On the other it took away their right to choose. It was the banishment clause which had set his blood boiling. The banished were forbidden to ever speak about it, not even to their families in the muggle world. His magic had flared angrily thinking about the unfairness of the law and Dudley was treated to rainbow of magical sparks dancing all over the room. It had also bought his aunt and uncle running, who looked on as the fairies hiding in Petunia's dress scrambled to harvest the lights (fairies gather their magic from the wizard home they reside in). Harry was baffled, horrified and then amused as he explained the phenomenon to his relatives and its cause. Dudley had learned how to smirk. Oh! The horror.

The adults soon left. Dudley changed and got into the bed. Dobby had provided an extra bed (and pain draughts Sirius had stocked in the potion store) in the same room so that he could keep an eye on Harry. Harry stayed awake for quite some time wondering about the events of the last week. He would have never imagined the care that he had gotten especially from Dudley. He wasn't quite himself for long periods of time but he had never gone hungry or thirsty or remained in pain for long. Muggle medicine may take longer to take effect but it did the job. Dudley had cared for him as best he could and Harry was grateful. His aunt's timely action perhaps saved all their lives. Blood was all that he had in common with them and they had honored it unknowingly or not. Blood will out as the wizards said.

As soon as the pain had faded his strength returned. He had slept through the day so he wasn't sleepy. He wasn't about to leave his bed though. So, he thought about his life and all that was in it. The fate of Longbottoms had made him realize that he could easily have been attacked as well had he remained in the magical world. On the other hand he had survived AK and Voldemort many times. He wasn't sure that he wouldn't have survived childhood in magical world. The whole last year was a thorn in his side and Sirius became a casualty of Dumbledore's machinations. Just as he was about to slip out of his grasp Dumbledore had sprung on him the prophecy. It was a relief to find out that he will get to kill the annoyingly named bastard even if he himself died in the process and that he had unnamed power to harness. No 'you know who' was a mild flu compared to what ailed him. His cancer was Dumbledore who was slowly killing him or readying him for the ultimate sacrifice whichever the way you look at it.

His chain of thoughts was broken when Dudley suddenly woke up and lumbered to his bed. He touched Harry's cheek softly. Harry inhaled.

"You are not in pain are you?", he asked.

Harry shook his head. "The potion will last the night. Sleep, Dudley."

His cousin nodded. "Wake me if you need anything." He went back and was still in a few moments.

Harry hadn't realized till now that Dudley had woken every night to check on him and give him painkillers. It was endearing how much his cousin cared. Harry was touched. His aunt had mentioned the bank's letter at dinner and told him why they were so late in contacting him. Since he was incapacitated his aunt had braved the portkey and gone to the reading in his stead. Sirius had left everything to him including his lands, titles and money. Immediately after the reading the goblins had secured a safe room for her to portkey out of. The Order had been unable to contact her and she had avoided everyone except goblins.

The knowledge had brought forth question which demanded answers. Probably the answer was one word, Dumbledore. Dobby had earlier sneaked him letters from the Burrow that Pig was unable to get to him. The stack was thick. He took the bundle out and read a few. Ron had tried to warn him about his impending magical maturity. The letter had never reached him. His best friend was worried. It showed in his writing. Dear simple minded Ron was perhaps incapable of tact in Hermione's opinion, but he had a caring heart. Hermione was worried too. Ron had mentioned that she was writing to him too, but the letters came back unopened. A lump formed in his throat. Not everyone had forgotten about him. However, it didn't excuse the rest of ungrateful lot. He wondered whether they cared about him at all beyond the war effort. He doubted it.

Sirius was one thing that had kept him wanting to go back to wizarding world after the horror of dementors was unleashed on him last year. Now he wondered whether it was worth it. Why can't he just take the Weasleys, Grangers and his family and relocated to another country? He was famous. Any other country will perhaps jump at the chance of the Boy-Who-Lived reside in their country and provide better security to him and his friends. Perhaps it was time to act like the real Boy-Who-Lived in everyone's mind to make his life easier. He had tried to pretend he was normal and everyone except his best friends had taken advantage of his humility. Now the Boy-Who-Lived will make them dance to their tune. It was time to make a statement.

The morning had crept up on him when he finally fell asleep after the night of musings. He woke to tantalizing smells of breakfast in bed, courtesy of Dobby. Dobby, Dudley and Harry had a fun morning and a long lay-in. Later Harry found a few old broomsticks in an old cupboard and tried to teach his cousin to fly in the sheltered backyard. The magic was inherent in the broom therefore, even muggles could fly them. To his aunt's horror and Vernon's delight, Dudley managed quite well and Vernon was persuaded to try too. They enjoyed flying on old brooms; at his aunt's insistence who threatened to shred his Firebolt if he ever gave it to her husband or son. Harry smirked, Dudley scowled. His uncle replied with, " but Petunia………" and that was the end of it.

The lunch preceded a pain draught and confinement to bed. He read the rest of the letters and wrote a reply which Dobby sneaked to Ron. Ron was overjoyed at Harry's well being and angry at his family for hiding so many things from him. Ron had agreed to keep their correspondence secret and avoid Order members by resorting to sulking. It was such a typical Ron thing to do. Hermione was not yet at Burrow but would be there next week. Harry read the reply and was comforted by the familiarity of the words. He sighed.

Dudley glanced up from the 'Quidditch through the Ages' Harry had lent him," Your friend wrote back didn't he?" Harry nodded. "Are you going to stay over with him?"

"I don't know. I haven't even decided whether I want to go back to Hogwarts or not."

His cousin shut his book. "Your godfather left you everything. You are rich and in danger. They have elite prep schools for important muggles, private and exclusive. Why don't you try an elite school for wizards?" He walked to the table, took out a stack of parchments and handed them to Harry. Harry started to read and after he finished he eyed his cousin thoughtfully, "They offered you a place as an animal handler apprentice and aunt Petunia and Vernon as a librarians." Dudley assented.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked.

"They are sucking up to you. If you want to go, we might come; to learn something new. We need to test our magic anyway and what better place than a school. It would be better than staying in the house. I love it here but there is a world out there I would want to see. "

"The last two look interesting. The last offered you a beginner apprenticeship to a potion master. It's an honor many students strive for and the magical requirements are very low. If you can handle a broom then you can handle potions too. I can request a family suite and we can all go. Aunt Petunia and Vernon would have access to the books there." He smirked. "Perhaps you can take some fat reducing potions." He ducked the shoe thrown at him and laughed.

The dinner brought on the intense discussion about their prospects in foreign schools. 'American Elite Magics' was voted to be the best offer and Harry sent off the note of assent to the school. He had made the school offer to pay for the sponsorships of Ron, Ginny and Hermione which the school promptly refused and made better counter offers for the said pupils. The final offer papers were sneaked to the Burrow by Dobby. They were accepted and signed by all three and sent back to Harry who then forwarded them to school.

The Weasleys gave mixed views when Ron broke the news. On one hand this eased financial strain from the family; on the other hand America was far away from Britain. Next day, Mr. Weasley was offered a post in the 'Muggle Liaison Office' in 'Chicago branch of Ministry of Magic' which swayed the family vote. Bill secured a transfer to Chicago branch of Gringotts while the twins packed their stuff, sold their shop and prepared to move with the family. Hermione's parents readily approved moving away from the war torn Britain. All of Dumbledore's protests were vehemently countered by the Weasley matriarch who insisted that her first priority was her family. The big shock came when Percy showed up after resigning from the ministry. He was readily taken in and the family was set to leave.

The Grangers were first to leave Britain and they quickly settled in central Chicago. The Weasleys followed. Harry and Dursley's were last to arrive in Chicago and made themselves comfortable. All three houses were under heavy wards set by Bill and professionals from Gringotts. Nobody had been told the reason for an extra warded house but they quickly worked it out. Both families were delighted. Their apprehensiveness of Dursley's was eased by assurances by Ron.

It was on the thirtieth of July that Dursley's and Harry arrived in their new house in central Chicago. All three houses were located quite close together, yet far apart so as to not to arouse suspicions. The American witness protection program was protecting them as high priority targets. Their names were changed and their appearances were modified tied in by rings/earrings worn by them. They could be only removed by the authorized officers with the wearers' expressed permission. So, with new additions the three families were spread in three houses. An auror escort was assigned to each family. It was a quick, simple and efficient protection system where only staggered information was given to any single level of operation. Harry was impressed. Percy was quickly gobbled up by an eager ministry. He may have been the most boring of the family but he was efficient and prized.

The day was spent decorating their new house. An exhausted Harry fell into the bed after dinner. Right at midnight he was promptly woken by the combined members of three families and amused aurors. He was dragged out for an impromptu birthday celebration which culminated in a pie throwing competition due to twin's crazy antics, followed by people molting into different animals or birds all over the place. The aurors too, enjoyed themselves and later herded people back to their places. In all, it was a sweet sixteenth birthday for Harry. He retired to bed at four in the morning, happy and content.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot; the characters belong to JKR.**

**I could type a long reply to the reviews I have received to continue this story. The response to this story was the best I had ever received for any story I have ever written. Still the muse have eluded me to give this story the direction it needed. This chapter introduces Gabrielle in an indirect manner. Finally I could type up something. Still it is a small chapter meant to jumpstart the story again after a long break.. Enjoy!  
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Chapter 4

He woke to the smell of sizzling bacon and some other delectable treat for the breakfast. His aunt Petunia was not quite upto Dobby's delicious standards and she had been forbidden to even try and step foot in the kitchen for breakfast. For lunch and dinner however Harry and Petunia were allowed to help in.

Dudley poked his head in his door. "Hey squirt, wake up if you want the breakfast or I am going to eat all of it." The only response he got was a groan and a pillow thrown in his face which he ducked.

Harry opened his eyes and got out of the bed grumbling. It was actually quite funny that he was still woken up for breakfast at sharp 7 o' clock in the morning even if he wasn't going to be the one cooking it. The absence of watchers and the truth of the family had worked wonders for the familial relations with his relatives. They were no longer something he wanted to be desperately rid off.

Harry's relatives had easily settled in their new home. They had been eager to test themselves for magic at the American ministry and found out that strong bindings on their familial magic had stopped them from manifesting magic as they were indeed weak witch and wizards. They weren't very powerful but were easily at a level which required them to be trained. Due to their late introduction into the magical world tutors were provided courtesy of the ministry. They now tolerated each other with humorous disdain quiet common in a normal American dysfunctional family. Their training as the pureblooded family thanks to the American ministry was going splendidly. His name was changed to Alexander Le fay, one of the minor forgotten pureblood families lost in England due to squibs. It was also a cadet branch to uncle Vernon's original magical family which he was happy to adopt. Dudley had become Caspian Le fay, Petunia was renamed Andrea Le fay nee Morgan, while his uncle had become Theodore Le fay. He was the officially the younger son in the family.

He shuffled into his bathroom and removed his earring. The perks of not being unwanted anymore had led to a huge change in his status in the family. In his new house he had his own well furnished room en-suited with a he took a good look at himself. He now looked the same yet different Harry. He had become quiet tall, thanks to his inheritance and his growth spurts. His body had begun to fill out quite nicely courtesy of the combined mothering attempts of Dobby and Mrs. Weasley. He no longer worked his way to exhaustion as he was prone to do at the Privet Drive and he was enjoying his life well; no thanks to anyone he had left behind. The golden ring that Dudley had seen in his eyes had disappeared. However his eyes have developed fierce vision and he no longer needed glasses. His features have sharpened too. The baby fat had melted off from his face throwing his angular features into sharp relief. It wasn't possible to recognize him if he casually crossed his old acquaintances in the street, even without his earring.

He freshened up quickly and put the earring back on. The normal look for his altered appearance blurred into existence. He now looked like a dirty blond haired teenager with blue eyes and a medium build; somebody who wasn't easily recognizable in the street and easier to forget.

He went down to the kitchen. All his relatives were already up and sitting at the table. He took a bite of the toast and poured himself some tea while he was waiting for his friends to arrive. He was scheduled to go shopping with his friends and Dudley today.

For the trio of Ron, Harry and Hermione the new environment was an open challenge. Hermione had changed her appearance but not her muggleborn status. she now looked like petite blond with green eyes. While Blood purity issue wasn't as strong here as it was in Europe, on the ministry's suggestion officially she had become a ward of the Le fay family. She was now renamed as Paige Williams. The elder Weasleys have become, the Whites a broken branch of an old pureblood family from Greece. They have also split up the family. Ron and Ginny were listed as Whites while the Bill had registered as a seperate head of the house, Morgan which covered the rest of his brothers. Ron was now called Andrew, Arthur had become Malthius, Molly was Relena, Bill was Samuel, Charlie was Zeus, Percy was Noel, Fred was Angelo, George was Anthony and Ginny was now Alexis. However, they all lived together.

As the days had passed the Auror cover had been relaxed but not completely removed. The three families were impressed with the level of professionalism shown to them. The British Aurors had a lot to learn when it came to normal surveillance it seemed. Even with the constant security provided by the Aurors, they had quite a fun time with the White family living so near to them. The twins were as exuberant as ever. They were looking towards opening a new shop in the Chicago wizarding district; however they wanted to work with precious jewels this time. Even Harry had been impressed with the capital they had managed to raise from a single joke shop funds which were now being used to buy uncut precious stones.

The arrival of Andrew (tall, blue eyes and brown hair) and Paige led Alexander (Alex) and Caspian to hurriedly finish their breakfast and go out for yet another day of wonderful treat in the Chicago wizarding district. They shopped, they browsed and normally Alex reveled in the elusive anonymity of the American wizarding world. The life here was fast paced and everybody worked regardless of their gender or age.

From all the members of the Dumbledore's army no one else had been accepted into his new school. Harry, Whites and Hermione had made it in due to their threatened status and the funds offered by the American ministry to have the honor of boy who lived residing in their country. As its reputation stood, the school was extremely elite and the training was rigorous. Dudley had chosen to be home schooled for this year as he had a lot of magical education to catch up on. If he felt comfortable he would be schooling with them next year.

For the lunch they chose a small café at the midsection of the street where they sat under bright umbrellas, happily gossiping. Harry ran his eyes over the other patrons when he spotted the Delacour family sitting a few tables away. Bill had left Fleur behind but it seemed that the Delacours have come to America for a vacation. Mrs. Delacour was a vision in itself dragging eyes of the males in the vicinity. Alex eyed the young girl sitting beside Fleur. Her name was Gabrielle as far as he could remember. He hadn't seen her in two years and she was a beauty now. She looked about thirteen. As he scrutinized her face he spied a letter in his hand which carried a symbol he was quite familiar with. It carried the insignia of the American Elite school. Alex smiled. It seemed to him that he was going to meet the young Ms. Delacour again and quite soon.

"Hey Alex, you are not by any chance staring at the Veelas ?" Andrew playfully remarked.

"Hmm."Alex was happy ogling the girls and seemed oblivious, which led to a giggling Paige and a smirking Caspian. Andrew grinned maliciously and dumped his cold drink into his lap. Alex yelped.

" What the hell Andrew."

" Stop staring and listen to us." Alex frowned and turned his attention to his best friend.

"We agreed to meet Angelo and Anthony to discuss their new designs. So we have to scope out the competition today. So it's jeweler's shops after lunch for us. In the evening we are going to look at the new brooms in the market. I think you should look for a new broom if you aren't taking your firebolt out for the games."

Alex nodded. He had decided to keep his Firebolt in his new vault at the American Gringotts. No way he was going to let any damage come to Sirius's gift.

They finished their lunch quickly after that and returned browsing through the shops.

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The departure of Weasleys and Grangers was a shock to Dumbldore's plans. The Order was quiet baffled as all the three important families have disappered overnight, without emerging anywhere else in the world at ministrial records. It was a foregone conclusion that the three families have gone in hiding, possibly together. There was neither hide nor hair to be found of any of the members. He was grinding his teeth together trying to find the ungrateful disobedient Potter child. Who knew what his new inheritance was. He was barred from the inheritance records as the family records were sealed and accesible only to the family members. Voldemort after his apparent unmasking at the ministry had once again gone back into the shadows, but he knew. The whispers of the things to come were dreadful. He and the wizarding England needed Harry Potter.

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those who enjoyed the chapter i appreciate you taking your time to read this.


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